


Being small is way past cool

by NiyanaIsNotSane



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Bullying, Domestic Fluff, Donut lord, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Mentions of Verbal bullying, Slice of Life, Tom getting a taste of fatherhood, Tom is definitely best dad, donut dad, father-son bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23170873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NiyanaIsNotSane/pseuds/NiyanaIsNotSane
Summary: Sonic acts strangely one morning and Tom decides to take matters into his own hands to figure out what’s wrong.
Relationships: Sonic the Hedgehog & Tom Wachowski, Tom Wachowski & Sonic
Comments: 15
Kudos: 232





	Being small is way past cool

**Author's Note:**

> Since Sonic is confirmed to be 13-14 in the first film, he’ll be in middle school in this story.  
> I also apologize in advance if I made anyone emotional/cry while reading this, cause I did when writing this.

=======

“Sonic!”

The hedgehog flinched at Tom’s loud voice cutting through the closed ladder door. “Sonic! Are you up yet?”

Groaning, he borrows deeper in his blanket and puts his pillow over his head.

_‘God 6 is seriously too early to wake up on a Tuesday.’_

Hearing the ladder door slide open, he kept still and held his breath as he heard heavy footsteps come into his room.

“Sonic?” He came closer to the bed, shaking Sonic’s shoulder.

“C’mon bud, you gotta get up now.”

“Nooo” his voice muffled underneath the pillow.

Tom rolled his eyes, whipping back the bed sheets off him.

Feeling the sudden cool air, his body tensed up and glared up at the human.

“Uh-uh Don’t look at me like that, you know you got to wake up now.”

Sonic closed his eyes, curled up his body and rolled over, his back facing Tom.

Tom let out a deep sigh. “Ok then.” he walks away and heads down the stairs.

_‘Maybe at this rate he’ll let me stay home this time.’_ He sighed in relief as he started to go back to sleep.

That didn’t last long before he heard Tom’s footsteps come back into the room.

_'Ugh spoke too soon.’_

Hearing his steps get closer, he felt Tom’s hand wrap around his shoulder, pulling him up in a sitting position.

The hedgehog groaned and let his head fall forward.

_‘I’m still not getting up, why is he trying so-AAAAH!’_

Sonic let out a scream as he felt a rush of cold mask around his face.

Tom, with a washcloth soaked with cold water, rubbed the cloth around Sonic’s eyes and face. “You should have got up when I told you.”

Swatting his hands away, he rubbed his eyes, now miraculously feeling more awake.

“Wha- What was that?”

“An old trick my mom used on me when I wouldn’t get up, just take a washcloth, soak it in cold water and wipe your face with it.” He grinned as he twirled the cloth around. “Could never really escape from it.”

“Hpmh, you must’ve been a stubborn kid.”

“It worked on you too so you’re not off the hook either.” he flicked the cloth on top of his head. “Now please get yourself ready, I’m not telling you again.”

“Fine.” He huffed, moving the damp cloth off head and stretched as Tom walked back downstairs.

_'He sounds serious this time, maybe he has to work a extra shift again.’_

“Well I guess I have to get serious too.” Using his speed, he made his bed and grabbed his toothbrush, zipping to the bathroom to get washed up.

Tom heard him zipping upstairs as he sat down at the table, letting out a deep sigh,

Maddie walked over to him, holding two cups of coffee. “Everything ok up there?”

“Teenagers.” He said bluntly as he took his cup from Maddie. “I always thought we got lucky from skipping the terrible two’s or that awkward preteen stage, but this-.”

He stopped to take a long sip from his mug. “I wonder how our parents felt when we went through this.”

“Tom, it’s probably because it’s the end of the first week of school for him and he doesn’t want to go due to how often he’s been home.”

“So he’s becoming stagnant basically?”

“In a matter of speaking, yes.”

“Oh god, he’s becoming a basement baby.”

“Pfft, that only counts once they’re 18 and over Tom.”

“Don’t be so sure of that, he already lives in our attic. So he’s kinda like a…attic toddler.”

Maddie nearly dropped her plate from stifling her snorts of laughter, passing Tom his plate. “Yeah ok, don’t him hear you call him that.”

“Please with all the names he calls us, we should at least get to call him something.” He huffed as he cut into his eggs.

“I thought he did have one? The Blue Devil?”

“Nope, it’s Attic Toddler now.” He waved his hand, mouth partially full.

Maddie let out a hum as she ate her eggs. “Hmm I don’t think he likes that too much.”

“Why’d you say-?”

“ATTIC TODDLER?!?”

Tom let out a yell and jumped nearly a foot into the air as he heard Sonic’s voice shrill right behind him. Ozzie barked in response to his yell, only for Maddie to call him over and calm him down.

Grabbing his chest, Tom panted as he looked at the hedgehog, who was wearing a small red shirt with a picture Saturn on it, looking very offended.

“Dude! You know better than to sneak up behind people and scream like that!”

Ignoring Tom’s remark, he carried on sounding more agitated. “'Attic toddler’? C'mon Tom I’m not that short!”

Catching his breath, he turned around in his chair to fully face him, slightly smiling. “I mean can you blame me, you’re about the size of a toddler.”

Sonic tightens his fists, cheeks blushes slightly. “ **NO I’M NOT!!** ”

His eyes flash blue for a split second and small sparks erupts from his quills as he panted from his outburst.

Ozzie whimpered and cowered underneath the table. Tom eyes widen while Maddie let out a gasp at the hedgehog’s sudden outburst.

Tom was the first to break the dead silence. “Sonic?”

Still panting, he blinked before looking shocked and shaking his head, sparks disappearing and his eyes going back to emerald green.

“I….uh…I.” he fiddled with his hands, looking down at the floor and taking a few steps back from the couple.

Tom went to stand up, Sonic backed away even more. “Hey-.”

“I’m sorry.” He murmured quickly before speeding up to his room, shutting the door behind him.

“Soni-.” He voice got cut off at the sound of the door closing.

Gripping his chair, he put his weight against the back, looking where Sonic disappeared.

“Tom?” He turned around to see his wife, both hands on the table as she looked at him, her face hardened. “What in the world was that?”

Choking on his words, he sat back down and leaned on the table, letting out a hard breath.

“I have no idea Mads.” Ozzie came out slowly from the table and approached Tom, putting his head on his knee.

He scratched his head in response. “I’ve never seen him like…. _that_ before, last time I saw him like this was months ago when he was fighting Robotnik.”

Maddie folded her hands and put them against her mouth. “I know and he’s never yelled in that way either.“ After a short pause she glances up.

"Do you think something happened at the school?”

“Hmm possibly, we haven’t got any calls from them yet.”

She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Oh Tom, do you think he may be getting picked on?”

He opened his mouth to speak only to close it, thinking about what she said. ’ _I mean it’s not far fetched that he actually could be, it’s pretty common around this age group.’_

“Middle school kids can be pretty brutal, man it’s only the first week for him too.”

“He got pretty upset at the comment you made, maybe it something related to that.”

“Yeah he did….” drumming his fingers against the table before snapping his fingers. “I got something.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I’m gonna just take a page out of my dad’s book for once, hopefully it works for him like it did for me”.

=======

_'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!’_ He screamed mentally as paced around his room, trying to calm down.

“Why did I yell at them like that?!? They didn’t know what was going on anyway, now they’re definitely going to know that something’s up! Way to go Sonic!” He threw his arms up in the air as he sat against his beanbag chair.

Taking a few breaths, he hugged his arms and stared at his feet. _'I…don’t know what to do.’_

Feeling his eyes sting, he sniffed and blinked away any incoming tears.

Looking up, the clock read 7:05. ’ _An hour and a half left huh? Maybe I’ll take a walk instead of a run today.’_

Getting up slowly, he put on his windbreaker and grabbed his backpack. He traced over the stitching of the owl that was sewn on the back before hugging the bag to his chest.

Pushing the ladder down, he slowly made his way to the main steps and pushed the ladder up, his ears picked up the sound of the shower turning on and faint singing coming from it.

_'Maddie’s still here, I wonder if she’s mad at me? And Tom…’_

He shook his head as he made his way to the front door, looking over to where Ozzie was laying, the dog’s head was between his paws as he saw Sonic pass by.

“See you later Oz” he waved sheepishly at the dog.

Not moving an inch, Ozzie gave a small bark in reply.

He winced at the lack of energy the retriever gave. _'Oh man I guess he’s mad at me too.’_

He stepped onto the front porch, closing the door behind him. Adjusting his book bag and zipping up his coat, he made his way down the stairs, his mind still going.

“Hey!”

The teen jumped and ducked slightly at the sound of a deep voice echoing in the yard. “Raise your hands where I can see them!”

Recognizing the voice, he let out a sigh as he walked towards the truck, the window rolled all the way down revealing that Tom was sitting inside.

Tom leaned his head out, his elbow out the window. “Hey bud.” He said softly.

“Hi.” He murmured, looking down at the ground.

A short pause. “Why so blue?”

Sonic huffed and glared up at the human, who held back a laugh before clearing his throat.

“No seriously though, how you feeling?”

“I’m…..fine.” Deep down he knew that he still wasn’t fine, but he didn’t want Tom to see that.

“Hmm-mmm.” He checked his watch before opening the door on the passenger side. “Well come on.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t have to be at the station until 9 so I’m taking you to school today.”

“O-oh, no that’s ok I was gonna just walk to school.”

Tom looks at him, straight faced.

“Sonic, I’m taking you to school.”

His voice was calm, but carried an eerie tone to it. As if saying, _“you definitely have no other choice in the matter.”_

Squirming under his gaze, he holds up his hands in surrender. “Ok whatever you say.”

He sighs as he makes his way into the passenger seat, closing the car door, putting his bag on the floor and folding his arms as he sat.

Putting the car in reverse, Tom backed the car out of the driveway.

“Put on your seatbelt.” He without looking back.

Sonic takes the seatbelt and straps it behind him rather than around him and clicks it in.

“Fasten it around your body please”. He says, still not looking back.

Shocked, he complies while staring at him. _‘How does he do that? I swear grown ups have eyes in the back of their heads.’_

=======

Tom continued to drive at a steady pace, one hand on the steering wheel, the other out the window.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic looking out the window at the passing trees, face in his palm and face sullen.

Clearing his throat, his decides to break the silence. “So do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?”

“That big elephant you left in the room.”

“Elephant? There was no elephant anywhere.”

“No-what I mean is that something is obviously bothering you and it’s starting to worry me and Maddie.”

He clutched the strap of the seatbelt. “Nothing’s bothering me.”

“Really? Cause the way you acted back there says otherwise.”

“I just-, I just didn’t like the way you called me a toddler that’s all.” He squeezes the belt tighter.

“If you didn’t like that I called you a toddler, you would have just told me that instead of yelling at me like that.”

“I didn’t mean to yell, it just came out that way.”

“Then why are you upset that I called you that?”

Sonic just shrugged his shoulders while giving a noise that sounded like “I don’t know”.

“Yes you do, you just don’t upset like that for no reason.”

Sonic stayed silent, hugging himself and closed his eyes, kneeling his head against the door.

Tom sighed in defeat, putting his eyes back on the road. _'It must be tough on him if he just won’t say it to me.’_

Seeing the exit ramp towards the school come into view, he increased his speed and drove right past it.

Sonic snapped out of it and watched as they went past the ramp.

“I figure we take the long way around, since we have the time.” Tom answered, sensing the teen’s confusion.

Sonic closes his mouth and nods, leaning his back against the seat, his shoulders noticeably loosening up and his face relaxed.

Tom grinned as he drove down the road, passing underneath the trees and by individual houses.

He turned the car onto a wide dirt road and drove up a hill leading to a area surrounded by a small glade of trees.

’ _Are we at a camping ground?’_ Looking around, he sees a small number of picnic tables and wooden signs.

“Why are we here?” He asks Tom, who is looking around the area, seemingly looking for something.

“Change of scenery, Ah there it is!” Tom exclaimed as he pulls into a space and puts the car in park.

Looking over the dashboard, he sees a metal guard rail bordering where the flat ground ends and an open view of the sky and trees down below, clear of any trees from blocking it.

Tom gets out and stretches his arms, breathing out a loud sigh before walking away from the car.

Sonic gets out slowly and closes the door. He walks over to the guard rail, backing up slightly at the steep drop beyond it.

It was a rather quiet place, only hearing woodpeckers and birds chirping in the distance and the sounds of the pine needles crunching under his shoes.

He turned around as he heard Tom grunting and saw him climbing up on the hood of the car and putting his back against the windshield, his feet dangling in front of the muffler.

Seeing Sonic stare at him, he patted the spot on the hood next to him.

He sped over on top of the hood and sat down next to the human, crossing his legs.

The two sat in silence for a bit before Tom spoke. “You’re probably still wondering why I took you here right before school.”

“Yeah I still am actually.”

Tom chuckled. “Well this place is pretty special to me. Me and Maddie would take walks up here when we got engaged, take Ozzie on walks, even have some barbecue parties with some of the neighbors.” He paused before mouth became tight.

“This is also the same place my dad took me when I was about your age.

Sonic let out a small gasp and raising his head up. "Really?”

“Yeah, it was actually for the same reason you’re going through right now. Middle school was getting rough for me and my parents knew right away that something was wrong.” He smiled at the distant memory before continuing.

“So one random day he came up to my room and told me that he was driving me to school, I didn’t think much of it so I went along with it.”

“Then he drives up into these woods and pulls up in the same spot that we’re in right now.”

Sonic eyes widened as he leaned in with interest.

“We both sat on the hood of his old pickup and just stared at the sun rising, it made me feel…calm and relaxed, So much so I was able to him what was going on.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“About how the kids were teasing me, calling me names behind the teachers back and no one wanted to be around me because I was the sheriff’s son.”

“And I’ll never forget what he said to me, he said ” _Thomas, those kids are just jealous because they wish their fathers were as cool and handsome just like I am.“_ ” Tom said as he tried to imitate his father’s voice, making Sonic giggle at the rough impression.

Letting out a laugh as well, he smiled before talking in his regular voice. “But what he also told me was ” _They think because of what family you were born into, you’ll turn out just like them, good or bad. It’s up to you to show them that you are unique in both mind and soul and eventually prove them wrong, you got what it takes, son.“”_

Tom beams as he finishes the story, looking down Sonic, who eyes were starting to water.

“Oh, hey buddy you ok?” He spoke softly as he puts a hand on Sonic’s shoulder, who nods his head as he wipes away incoming tears.

“*sniff* Yeah I’m fi-.” He stops realizing what he’s about to say. _'No you’re not.’_

“No I’m not fine actually.”

Hand still on his shoulder, he pulls him in closer. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath before speaking. “Some of the kids at school have been….making fun of my height.”

Tom stiffens up but listens as Sonic continues. “On the first day, it was kinda like a joke, the fact that I’m in 6th grade and I look like I should be in 1st grade. I didn’t think much of it.”

His fists resting on his knees clench up. “Then this one group of kids in my PE class, they really went at it and wouldn’t stop. They didn’t do things like push me in a locker or beat me up or anything because of my speed, but the things they said….” He stops as he feels his throat go tight.

“What things did they say to you?” He kept his voice steady.

His voice cracks. “They said that my speed was the reason my parents didn’t want me anymore, my height was not normal for my age and then yesterday they told me that it was only reason I was taken in by the sheriff was because I’m ” _an abomination that no one else wanted_ _and that he could use me for hunting practice"_. He finishes as his voice cuts off and a few tears run down his face.

Tom uses his thumb to wipe the tears from his face as he pulls him closer. Sonic lets out a small sob as he wraps his arms around Tom’s waist and cries softly into his chest, with Tom holding a hand behind his head and back.

The two sit on the hood of the truck as Sonic quiet sobs fill the air with Tom rubbing his back and whispering words of comfort.

After a few minutes, Sonic pulls away from the embrace hiccuping slightly, wiping his eyes and sniffing loudly.

Tom pulls out a tissue while continuing to rub his back. “Here, blow your nose.”

Sonic wipes his eyes before blowing his nose hard. He leans back against Tom’s side, trying to control his breathing.

“Sonic, why didn’t you say anything to us if those kids were picking so much?

He shook his head. "I didn’t want to guys to worry about it, I thought if I just tough it out it would be fine.”

“Is that why you yelled like that?” Seeing him nod his head slowly, he let out a deep sigh.

“Ok we got to agree on some things, first thing is next time something like this happens, please let us know right away, it’s not good to hold in emotions like that.”

He nods in agreement. _'Oh trust me I know.’_

“Two, please don’t raise your voice like that at us again. You’re lucky I was taking you, Maddie wasn’t too happy that you did that.”

“O-ok, I think Ozzie was mad at me too.”

“You probably just scared him a little.”

“And three, don’t let people like that get to you, they never know the full story of your life unless they are apart of it.”

“Oh yeah, they don’t.” He wipes eyes again with his palm.

“Hey, they might even be jealous at the fact that your living with a sheriff that’s so devilishly handsome.” He clutches his chin and raises his eyebrows.

Sonic let out a wet laugh, pushing Tom’s shoulder. “Pfft I know that’s definitely not it.”

“Wha- how dare you, I’m eligible to be on the Bachelor!” He let out a fake gasp as he poked Sonic in the sides.

The hedgehog shrieked as he shielded away, swatting away his hand.

Tom shook his head as he checked his watch.

“Whoa, it’s 8:15 already? We better get going.” He grunted as got off the hood.

“Oh right, school.” Sonic said solemnly as he looked out at the view, the sun near the top of the trees. _'I kinda don’t want to leave now.’_

“Hey Tom? Is it ok if we come back here again?”

“Oh yeah that’s a good idea, we can come back during the weekend.”

“Sweet!”. He zipped into car and buckled his seatbelt.

“Oh yeah, you forgot something at home.” Tom reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a small lunch box.

“Oh my god thank you! I didn’t realize I left it.” He hugged the bag to his chest before putting it on the floor.

“Been there before and trust me it’s not fun. Oh and make sure you eat this before we get there.” He tossed Sonic a banana from his bag.

The hedgehog looked down at the fruit in confusion. “Uhh why are you giving a banana? I already have my lunch.”

“You didn’t eat breakfast.” He replies bluntly.

Right at that moment, his stomach lets out an audible growl. He blushes as he opens it and starts taking small bites.

_'Can read him like a book.’_

=======

The truck pulled up in front of the school, the students gathering from all over, from walking to being dropped off.

Tom put the car in park as he looked up at building then to Sonic, who was still looking out the window, face filled with uncertainty.

“Hey.” He tapped his shoulder to get his attention. “Remember what I said, don’t let those kids get to you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good, cause I’m saying this not only as your friend, but also as your guardian, your size can be your greatest strength, other than that blue sparky thing you do sometimes.”

His eyes widened at the word “guardian” before beaming widely, his tail wagging. “Really?”

“Yeah, do you know how many people’s knees you can kick at your height?”

“Oh no I meant what you-……uh nevermind.” He grabbed his bag and lunch box and went to open the door, before turning around and wrapping his arms around Tom’s neck.

Startled, Tom froze at the sudden action before hugging him back.

“Thank you.” He leaned back to look at Tom, smiling widely.

“Anytime, bud” he said warmly as he rubbed the teen’s ears.

He drew back from the hug, jumped down from the seat and shut the car door.

“I’ll see you later, Tom!” He yelled behind his back as he rushed towards the building, stopping to talk to 2 boys, giving them high fives before walking in with them.

“See you later…son.”

**Author's Note:**

> I put a reference to a certain movie at the end of the story. Kudos to whoever gets it.


End file.
